Stitch removing tool



May 25, 1937. B. F. RHODES 2,081,250 STITCH REMOVINGTOOL 1 Filed June 1, 1936 r Patented May 25, 1937 v v I l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE STITCH REMOVING TOOL Benjamin Franklin Rhodes, Eufaula, Ala., assignor of one-third to Hubert E. James, onethird to William Alton Clifton, and one-third to Herbert L. Clifton, all of Eufaula, Ala.

Applicat on June 1, 1936, Serial No. 82,977 4 Claims. (01. 12-403) This invention relates to stitch removing tools, Figure 4 illustrates a detail view of a modifiand particularly to means for displacing remcation of the tool guiding means; nants of stitches that are left in the welt of a Figure 5i111lSt1eiteS a Side View thereof; shoe or middle sole thereof when the stitches Figure 6 illustrat s a p a w of a further 5 have been cut for the removal of the worn sole modified construction; and 5 of a shoe. In order to afford a neat and satisigu e 7 illustrates a w Of a further medifactory repair job, the remnants of stitches refication. maining in the needle holes of welts or middle In these drawings the too is st d as soles should be removed and, to that end, novel e body a handle Ill and an integral hellOW 10 means are provided for displacing such remnants housing ll, including a e in wh t 10 of thread preparatory to resoling of a shoe. Operating Parts Of the mechanism are encased- It is an object of this invention t provide The outer surface of the head is provided with novel thread displacing instrumentality which a plate With teeth SP thereon, cup can be expeditiously manipulated for accomihg spaces at the marginal e of the S d p plishing the result, and the invention further- The plate y e red o h he d by any 15 more providesmeans for displacing threads that p p e means, as y faetehil'lgs in the may accumulate on the thread removing teeth nature of Screws, rivets the likeor spurs of the thread displacing instruinentality. The head and plate have coinciding apertures It is furthermore an object of this invention it through w c a od or p r I1 p to provide novel means for operating t thread cates, and the upper wall of the said head has displacing device, all of whi h i associated t an aperture 18 in which the plunger is guided the head and handle of th to l during its manipulation, as will presently appear.

It is still further an object of this invention The Plunger has a gulde secured o ills d to provide means for guiding the thread removwhich gulde is integral Wlllh Plate 20 having ing spurs with lati t t rows of threadsor recesses or slots 2| that receive the teeth or 25 stitching of the welt or middle sole and, a Spurs, it being understood that the plate refurther improvement, to provide novel means Qlpmcates longitudinally of the Spurs- Normally for regulating or adjusting t guiding means the plate is located at the bases of the spurs, and with relation to the thread displacing instrudllrlng the manlplllatlon 0f the Stltch removlng mentality, tool, the said plate remains in contact with the With the foregoing and other objects in view, plate but when the Plunger ls reclproca'tedy the invention consists in the details of constructhe Plate ls moved along the teeth Spurs and tion, and in the arrangement and combination dlslollges threads that may accumulate on the of parts t be hereinafte more fully set forth said teeth or spurs during the manipulation of and claimed. 7 the tool. The plunger is operated by a lever 22 In describing the invention in detail, reference extending longltlldlnauy of the housing and will be had to the accompanying drawing formconnected the plunger by a pivot 23 which ing part of this application, wherein like characmay a Screw d. t0 the plunger and ters denote corresponding parts in the several 'extendmg through slot 24 of the Sald leverviews, and in which 7 It is shown in the drawing that the lever is an- 40 gularly disposed and that a depending portion Figure 1 illustrates a vlew in elevation of a tool embodying the invention, the face plate of 25 thereof extends through a slot 26 in the botwhich is removed tom of the housing and said lever terminates .Figure 2 illustrates a view in elevation of the in an extension 21 forming a'finger grip by which onposite Side of the t 001 the lever and the parts associated with it are 45 Figure 3 illustrates a detail view of the thread i gg f smwn tllat the removing teeth or spurs and the means asso- Spaceldlsta'nce of the ciated therewith for displacing threads accumu- 0 e S o or approxlma and that a pwot It d th it bein S t k th 30 extends through the said lugs and the space 50 e 3 s f F3 g ec en on e therebetween on which the lever is mounted. 50 1m; -3 0 11 lgt. a l The'plunger is held retracted, that is to say, is. a 1 us ra s vlew 1n eevatwn of a 1n the normal position shown in Fig. 1, by a fragment of a shoe with a fra of the dev e spring 3| which has one end anchored to the embodying the invention in position for operainner wall of the housing and its other end 555 tion; bearing against the under side of the lever in proximity to its connection with the plunger. A suitable face plate 32 is applied to the housing by fastenings 33 such as screws.

The guide is, of course, intended to engage the edge of the welt and, when in such engagement, the teeth or spurs will register with the line of needle holes in the welt but, under some conditions, the space between the edge of the welt and the needle holes varies to a degree which might render the tool ineffective if the space between the guide and teeth were fixed. The guide I9, in this form of the invention, may be adjusted with relation to the. teeth by having a slot or clearance [3 that permits movement of the plunger I! laterally of the head, and the plunger is held at diiTerent positions of adjustment by a screw 13 threaded in the head, as shown. A spring I3 bears against the side of the plunger opposite that engaged by the screw, so that the said plunger is held in different positions of adjustment against movement other than that imparted to it by pressure of the guide on the work or the movement imparted to the said plunger by the adjustment of the screw.

In order to provide means for adjusting the position of the guide with relation to the edge of the plate which it carries and with relation to the teeth, the embodiment shown in Figures 4 and 5 may be adopted and in that construction the plate 34 may be provided with a stationary flange 35 at its edge, threaded to receive a screw 36 and the screw is swivelled in the guide 31 so that when the screw is adjusted in the flange, it will move the guide with relation to the edge of the plate which receives the teeth or spurs.

A further modification of a guiding means is found in Figure 6, in which the plate 38 that is intended to engage the teeth has an eccentric guide 39 secured on a stud 40 and, by this means, the eccentric guide may be turned to different positions so that its periphery will be near or remote from the edge, according to the distance between the edgeof the welt and the row of stitches which it is desired to remove.

In the modification shown in Figure '7, the guiding means for the plate 4| comprises a curved spring 42 having its ends anchored to the plate as at 43 and 54 by suitable fastenings, such as pins. The convex side of the spring faces the edge of the plate having the teeth and, in the use of the tool of this modification, pressure would be exerted by the operator to locate the teeth of the tool in alinement with the stitch openings when the said spring engaged the edges of the welt, acting as a guide for the tool.

As shown in Fig. 3a, the fragment of the shoe A has a sole or welt B with relation to the stitches C of which the tool is in operative relation.

When it is desired to manipulate the tool with relation to the stitches of a sole of a shoe, the guide I9 is caused to engage the edge of the sole or welt and the relation of parts is such that when proper adjustment is made, the spurs I 4 are in line with the severed threads of the stitching and when the tool is manipulated the said threads are dislodged. If the threads adhere to the spurs, they are dislodged by moving the plunger longitudinally and this carries the plate 20 having the recesses or slots 2| so that the said plate passes longitudinally of the spurs and forces the threads therefrom, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3. The plunger is moved by the manipulating instrumentalities heretofore described and it returns to its normal position under the influence of springs supplied for that purpose. The stitches in the shoe extend longitudinally of the welt and the tool is moved along the welt with the spurs M in line with the stitching and as the said tool is reciprocated transversely of the welt, the spurs engage the threads and displace them or pull them out of the thread holes. In Fig. 3 the threads are shown as extending transversely of the spurs but that is only a conventional illustration for, as a matter of fact, the threads will be fibrous or broken up to such an extent that they will appear more like a bunch of cotton which will be displaced by the manipulation of the plate 20 in the manner described.

I claim:

1. A stitch removing tool comprising a handle and a housing integral therewith, said housing having a hollow head whose upper and lower walls are provided with alining apertures, a plate on the outer surface of the head having an aperture alining with the apertures of the head, alined stitch removing teeth on the said plate, a plunger slidable in the said apertures and projecting beyond the plate, a guide secured to the said projecting part of the plunger, said guide having a thread removing plate with recesses to receive the aforesaid teeth, and means for reciprocating the plunger for moving the thread removing plate longitudinally of the teeth.

2. A stitch removing tool comprising a handle and a housing integral therewith, said housing having a hollow head whose upper and lower walls are provided with alining apertures, a plate on the outer surface of the head having an aperture alining with the apertures of the head, alined stitch removing teeth on the said plate, a plunger slidable in the said apertures and projecting beyond the plate, a guide secured to the said projecting part of the plunger, a thread removing plate carried by the guide, said plate being in engagement with the aforesaid teeth, and means for reciprocating the plunger for moving the guide and the said plate longitudinally of the teeth.

3. A stitch removing tool comprising a handle and a housing integral therewith, said housing having a hollow head whose upper and lower walls are provided with alining apertures, a plate on the outer surface of the head having an aperture alining with the apertures of the head, alined stitch removing teeth on the said plate, a plunger slidable in the said apertures and projecting beyond the plate, a guide secured to the said projecting part of the plunger, a thread removing plate carried by the guide, a lever pivotally mounted in the housing having an end pivotally connected to the plunger, said lever projecting beyond the housing and terminating in a finger grip by which the lever is manipulated, and a spring anchored to the inner wall of the housing and bearing against said lever to retract the plunger.

4. A stitch removing tool comprising a handle and a head apertured to form guides, a plate on the end of the head having stitch removing teeth, a plunger slidable in the guides of the head and projecting beyond the plate, a guide secured to the plunger and operative to engage the edges of welts of shoes, a lever pivotally mounted on the structure and operative to reciprocate the plunger, and a yieldable means for returning the plunger to normal position.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN RHODES. 

